Brigham Young

“ Do you know what it is that scares the world? As I have already said, it is the Spirit of the Lord that is placed in man, and the reflection of light from it upon his spirit wakes up the sensibilities in him, and creates conviction. That Spirit, with the Gospel of Christ, interrupts the whole world in their common career, in every capacity of life. That Spirit does not chime in and harmonize with any earthly kingdom or government, either in their political or religious institutions ”

“ How often, to all human appearance, has this kingdom been blotted out from the earth, but the Lord has put His hand over the people, and it has passed through, and come out two, three, and four times larger than before. Our enemies have kicked us and cuffed us, and driven us from pillar to post, and we have multiplied and increased the more, until we have become what we are this day, in possession of a territory with an appropriate government. Let them still continue to persecute us, and who cares? If they will let us alone, we will preach the Gospel to all nations, and gather Israel. ”

“ As this kingdom of God grows, spreads, increases, and prospers in its course, it will cleanse, thoroughly purge, and purify the world from wickedness. He who supposes his house to be built upon a rock, and well calculated to withstand any test that may be applied to it, finds, when it is tried by the Gospel of the kingdom, that its foundation proves to be sand, and the whole fabric appears nothing in which a man may securely trust for salvation. ”

“ But allow me to tell you, Elders of Israel, and delegates to Congress, you may expect an eternity of cats, that have not yet escaped from the bag. Bless your souls, there is no end to them, for if there is not one thing, there will always be another.
Do you suppose that this people will ever see the day that they will rest in perfect security, in hopes of becoming like another people; nation state, kingdom, or society? They never will. ”

“ As for this people, as for the disturbances and Reports of the returned judges, as for the say so of one nation, and all the nations upon the earth, I am entirely unconcerned; but I hope one thing concerning this people and kingdom of God which are established upon the earth, that they will turn neither to the right nor to the left, but maintain continually a steady and unslackened pace to build up the cause of truth. Let small men or large men, officers of state or citizens, kings or beggars, say or do what they please, it is all the same to the Almighty. ”

“ Nothing that runs foul of it can resist the shock and fire.
The hue and cry in the world about this people is—"What an awful set of people these Mormons are! Why, they are a dreadful people!" What makes them so? ”

“ Christ and Satan never can be friends. Light and darkness always remain opposites. The kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan will always remain two kingdoms; and so long as they are, you will find from time to time that the citizens Satan's kingdom will be telling you of cats that are ready to leap out of the bag, of something that is wonderful and alarming in its nature, as much so as the circumstance which brother Bernhisel touched at, which created a great excitement in Washington—that we had revolted from the parent Government, and hoisted the flag of our independence. ”

“ The report of the Gospel of Jesus Christ terrifies the people, it goes forth with such gigantic strides. When this Church first commenced, I used to say to the people, "If you do not like my preaching, when I do the best I can, I cannot help it, but if you will let us alone, and suffer us peaceably to enjoy our religion, we shall enjoy ourselves better together, as friends, neighbors, and citizens. ”

“ Go to the United States, into Europe, or wherever you can come across men who have been in the midst of this people, and one will tell you that we are a poor, ignorant, deluded people; the next will tell you that we are the most industrious and intelligent people on the earth, and are destined to rise to eminence as a nation, and spread, and continue to spread, until we revolutionize the whole earth. ”

“ It came into my mind when brother Bernhisel was speaking, and the same thing strikes me now, that is, inasmuch as he has done first-rate, as our delegate in Washington, to move that we send him again next season, though it is the Sabbath Day. I understand these things, and say as, other people say, "We are Mormons." We do things that are necessary to be done; when the time comes for us to do them. If we wish to make political speeches, and it is necessary, for the best interest of the cause and kingdom of God, to make them on the Sabbath, we do it. ”

“ The king upon his throne, the president in his chair, the judges upon the bench, and the beggar in the street, are all overruled in their actions by the Almighty God of heaven and earth. Who can successfully fight against Him? ”

“ Imagine to yourselves a learned doctor of divinity, securely surrounded with the bulwarks of his religious lore, pampered with the applause of thousands who hang on his skirts for religious instructions ”

“ And let me tell you the Devil has put the whole world on the watch against us. It is impossible for us to make the least move without exciting, if not all the world, at least a considerable portion of it. They are excited at what we do, and, strange to relate, they are no less excited at what we do not do.
You will find that there will be cats and kittens leaping out of the bag continually. ”

“ Every man that comes to impose upon this people, no matter by whom they are sent, or who they are that are sent, lay the axe at the root of the tree to kill themselves. I will do as I said I would, last Conference. Apostates, or men who never made any profession of religion, had better be careful how they come here, lest I should bend my little finger. ”

“ I will tell you what we will do—we will preach the Gospel, and revolutionize the whole earth, that is, if you will let us alone, but if you persecute us, we will do it quicker. This places the wicked in the same circumstances as the drunken man, who would fall down if he tried to stand, and fall if he tried to walk. So, if they will let us alone, we will evangelize the whole earth ”

“ If as good a man as Jesus Christ went to hell, we may well expect that a wicked and ungodly man will go there to atone for his sins. Enough upon that matter: suffice it to say, that all, when they die, go somewhere; and if the people want to know particularly where they are going when they die, let them read the Bible and learn. ”

“ Do you think the great car will stay in its onward progress, because some infernal scoundrel stands on the track? No; but the wheels will roll over him, and crush him, until, like the pig brother Bernhisel spoke of, he will "die all over."
I admit it is hard for our Elders, for our brethren that are abroad, when anything of a transverse nature occurs in the midst of this people, especially in our present organization. It is hard for our Elders to meet with interruptions in their course, to meet with, and have to combat, the prejudices of the people. ”

“ Why should there be any more excitement when a public officer is chastised in Utah for publicly insulting a loyal people, than there would be if a similar occurrence transpired in Oregon, Minnesota, or any other territory? ”

“ One of the weakest of our Elders, I mean one of our boys, who is conversant with the Bible, is well qualified to instruct the learned priest, confound in Bible doctrine the greatest theologians upon the earth, and throw into confusion, and interrupt, and fill with contradictions and inconsistencies, their choicest theories. ”

“ But until then, I do not know that it ever came into my mind whether Taylor was in hell or not, any more than it did that any other wicked man was there. I suppose he is where all the ignorant wicked are gone, and where they will continue to go. The Bible declares that the Lord Almighty turns the wicked into hell, with all the nations that forget God. ”

“ Say they, "If these people called Latter-day Saints are correct in their views, the whole world must be wrong, and what will become of our time-honoured institutions, and of our influence, which we have swayed successfully over the minds of the people for ages. ”

“ Now, suffer not your prejudices to hurt you, do not suffer this to try you, nor be tempted in consequence of it, nor think we are wandering out of the way, for it is all embraced in our religion, from first to last. ”

“ If the congregation wish to know if we are well situated for territorial officers at the present time, I will say, for their information, I believe we are. I will speak for this people, and say, we cannot be situated better in that respect than we are at the present time, so far as we know. One of our judges, Judge Shaver, has been here through the winter, and, as far as he is known, he is a straightforward, judicious, upright man, and a good adjudicator in the law. This I believe, and so do others who are acquainted with his acts. He cannot be beaten among Jews or Gentiles. ”